Work premium

Revenu Québec

If you have a low income, you may qualify for a work premium. The premium is calculated on the basis of your income and your family situation. Your income may come from a job, a research grant or business activities.

The work premium is a refundable tax credit intended to encourage workers to enter or remain in the work force.

The work premium is calculated on the basis of your employment income and that of your spouse, if any, as well as your family situation.

You can claim the work premium when preparing your tax return, or if you prefer not to wait, you can apply for advance payments. If you are receiving benefits under the Social Solidarity Program, you can apply for advance payments through the Ministère du Travail, de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale or through Revenu Québec.

Supplement to the Work Premium Under certain conditions, a person who is eligible for the work premium may also be entitled to the supplement to the work premium.

Spouse on December 31 A person is considered to be someone’s spouse on December 31 if on that date he or she was in one of the following situations:

At the end of that day they were not living apart due to the breakdown of their relationship.

They were separated, but had only been separated for less than 90 days.

The person died that year, and at the time of death the couple had not been living apart for 90 days or more due to the breakdown of their relationship. This situation only applies if the survivor did not have a new spouse on December 31 of the year of death.

Dependent Child A child under 18, or a child 18 or over who is enrolled in full-time vocational training at the secondary level or in full-time post-secondary studies.

Full-time StudentA person pursuing post-secondary studies or vocational training at the secondary level who is in either of the following situations:

During the year, the student begins and completes a term in which at least 9 hours per week must be devoted to classes or work required by the program. The student has a major functional deficiency within the meaning of the Regulation respecting financial assistance for education expenses, and he or she begins and completes, during the year, a term in which the student receives at least 20 hours of instruction per month.

Since the clientele and the conditions vary according to the service, the information is provided under each service.

The maximum amounts for the work premium are as follows for tax year 2017:

Situation

Maximum Amount

Single person

$729.54

Couple with no dependent children

$1138.32

Single-parent family

$2,431.80

Couple with at least one dependent child

$3,162

NoteWhen annual income is above certain thresholds, the premium decreases until it reaches zero.

The work premium replaced the Parental Wage Assistance Program as of January 1, 2005.